Ties That Bind
by ChangingDestiny'sDesign
Summary: After meeting when they were 6, they promise to find each other in the future. Years later at the Chunnin Exams, they meet again. Gaara has asked her to let him court her while they are in town.  Little does she know the village's welfare is in her hand.
1. No Longer Alone

**I do not own Naruto or any of the characters within. I simply love the series and put my overly active imagination to use.**

_'Why me? Why are they so scared of me? I try so hard but no one wants to be my friend.'_ Thought the little red haired boy sitting on the swing alone, watching the other kids playing. He knew they would run if he even tried to walk close to them. He knew why but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It's not like he meant to hurt anyone. All he wanted was a friend but he knew that wouldn't happen.

He sat there, day after day, playing with his teddy bear wishing it could talk back to him. The only person that ever seemed to talk to him was the voice in his head and Yashamaru. No one loved him and he knew it. Every time he thought about it, his heart hurt. Day after day, the pain got worse and he felt emptier than the day before. He didn't know what to do to fill the void, but he wanted to find the answer, somehow.

"Hello!" He looked up to see a pink haired girl about his age staring back at him. _'Why is she talking to me?'_

"Hello." His quiet reply came.

"Do you mind if I swing with you?" She asked, sounding almost excited.

"No, that's fine." He replied slightly confused. _'Why isn't she running?'_

"I'm Sakura! What's your name?" Sakura asked, excited to find a new friend. _'That's why. She doesn't know who I am. I might as well tell her and get it over with. She'll run just like the rest.' _

"Gaara."

"Nice to meet you Gaara."

"Why aren't you running from me? You know my name now. You should be scared like everyone else."

"Why would I run? You seem nice and I like you. The other kids aren't nice anyway. They make fun of me and won't let me play."

"Why?" Gaara asked, confused why they wouldn't like her. She seemed nice and was definitely pretty.

"They say I have a huge forehead. They say if the sun reflected off my forehead, it would blind them. Why don't they like you?"

"I control sand."

"What do you mean, control sand?"

"Watch." Gaara then lifted his hand, willing the sand to follow. Sakura watched, mesmerized as she saw the sand follow his command. He slowly brought it into the air, in the shape of a ball. Making sure she was watching, Gaara started molding it into the tiny shape of a cherry blossom to match her name. On one of the petals, he inscribed the kanji for love. He than slowly brought it towards them.

"Hold out your hand." Gaara instructed. Sakura quickly reacted and did as directed. He brought it toward her hand and laid it on the top of her wrist. Slowly sand started expanding from the side, wrapping around her wrist, forming a loose bracelet.

Sakura sat in awe. Staring at the bracelet before looking back at him, smiling. "Thank you, Gaara." She said, beaming at him.

"You aren't scared? That I can do that?"

"Scared? I think it's awesome! How can you do that? Can you teach me? I bet you never have trouble reaching for things! I have to balance step stools just to get to the cabinet than Oka-san yells at me for climbing the cabinet. It's not fair really. I'm so short! Shorter than normally for my age. How old are you?"

"I'm six. How old are you?"

"I'm almost six! Gaara-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Here." Gaara watched as Sakura reached around her neck and removed a black cord with a charm attached to it. She leaned forward and laid it around his neck. He could see the charm now and saw the Konoha symbol. "My daddy is only her for today but I want you to always remember me because I'll always be your friend. When you see that necklace, you'll know where to look for me!"

A shocked Gaara looked at her. "You're my friend?"

"Of course silly! And no matter how lonely we get, we have something to remind us of the other. When we are older, we can find each other again!" Sakura stated.

"I will find you. You are my first and probably only friend. I will find you again." Gaara said, looking like he was about to cry.

"I'm glad! I'll miss you." Sakura said as she pulled Gaara into a hug. Gaara froze, unsure what to do as he had never had human contact like this. He final settled on replicating her actions and gently wrapped his arms around her before crushing her to him. For a moment, the emptiness was gone. He stayed like that until a panted whisper reached his ears. "Gaara…. Can't breathe!"

"Sorry." Gaara quickly apologized, afraid she would run away and be mad at him.

"That's ok. You don't get a lot of hugs, do you?" Sakura replied, looking suddenly sad.

"That was my first. It made me chest stop hurting and felt good." Gaara replied.

"Well, I don't know why you don't. With you being so cute, I'd think you'd get hugged a lot. But, since you don't, I will hug you any time you want!"

"Thank you, Sakura-chan."

"I have to run. Daddy is expecting me back home since we have to head home tonight. Bye Gaara."

"Goodbye Sakura." With that, Sakura walked away leaving a once again lonely Gaara. _'I will find you again.'_ He thought as he clutched the necklace before slipping it beneath his shirt and heading home.

Later that night, as Gaara sat over the body of his uncle, blood dripping from the tattoo on his head, he knew what he had to do to survive. _'I will live for myself only until I can come for you Sakura. We will then be together and away from everyone who can betray us. I will protect you so they can't hurt you like they have me. Until then, our symbols will bind us.' _

**Chapter one done! What do you think? Please review and let me know!**


	2. A Timeline

**7 years later… **

He could see Konoha come into view and knew he was close. He could almost feel her presence. _'I wander what she looks like now. I bet she is pretty. Surely she hasn't forgotten me. I couldn't stand that. She's the only thing that has kept me this sane. I need her. I need her to tell me it's ok again.'_

"NARUTO, GET BACK HERE!" Voices yelled in the distance.

"NO! SOMEONE HELP! SHE'S GONNA KILL ME! WHERE IS KAKA-SENSEI WHEN I NEED HIM! I DIDN'T MEAN IT SAKURA-CHAN!"

That caught Gaara's attention. _'Could it be the same Sakura?'_

"YOU DID MEAN IT! I CAN BLEND IN PLACES OTHER THAN SAKURA TREES JUST FINE! AND I AM NOT A PANSY! I AM A MIGHTY FINE AND VERY STRONG NINJA. YOU KNOW I CAN BEAT YOU UP!"

"I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! I JUST MEANT YOU HAIR BLEND IN WELL WITH THE SAKURA TREES! IT WAS A COMPLICATE! NO, THAT'S NOT RIGHT… IT WAS SOME BIG WORD LIKE THAT. I'M SORRY. PLEASE STOP CHASING ME."

_'Her hair matches the Sakura trees? It has to be her.' _Gaara thought as he listen to the rather loud conversation in the distance.

"FINE. I FORGIVE YOU."

"AND YOU WON'T BEAT ME UP."

"ONLY BECAUSE I NEED YOU FOR THE EXAMS."

"THANK YOU SAKURA-CHAN! MAKE UP HUG?"

"DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK."

Gaara noticed two flashes, one yellow and one pink, suddenly stop and start walking toward them at a normal pace. It was then he saw her for the first time in years. She was walking toward him. She had on a red dress with her clan symbol, black shorts and ninja shoes. Her hair was long and tied back with her headband. What caught his eye the most was the band on her wrist. She still had on the bracelet he had made her all those years ago.

They had stopped in front of the sand siblings, ready to ask for their passes when Kankuro spoke up. "You were actually scared of her? Such a wimp!" He told Naruto while laughing hysterically.

"SHE HAS A MEAN RIGHT HOOK PUNK. LET HER HIT YOU ONCE THEN WE'LL SEE WHAT YOU SAY." Naruto yelled back.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING PUNK, WIMP?" Kankuro yelled back.

"YOU PUNK."

"WIMP"

"PUNK"

"WIMP"

"Stop." Gaara finally said in dangerously low tone that no one questioned it. It was then that everyone turned to the stoic redhead standing in the background. "That is enough Kankuro."

"Haha - Sorry Gaara. I didn't mean any harm." Kankuro said nervously.

"Now

who's a wimp. You're scared of that squirt?" Naruto said.

"He has a reason to be." Gaara growled, not liking the name Naruto had given him but keeping control of his temper for Sakura's sake.

"Gaara? Is that you?" Sakura finally said, a little unsure.

"Yes, it's me Sakura." He said moving to stand in front of her.

"Why are you here, Gaara?"

"Exams. This is my team, Temari and Kankuro."

"Ah, he is part of my team. Iceburg isn't here nor is our Sensei."

"I see."

"We have to run now. Team meeting but I'll see you around. Maybe lunch or something? We have years to catch up on." Sakura said grinning.

"Where is your team meeting?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"About two mile due north. Why?"

He wrapped his arms around her then looked in her eyes. "Because I can get you there faster and you won't tired yourself out running there." With that they were both surrounded by sand. Naruto and the sand sibling looked at each other and quickly ran toward the training ground, all three very confused.

"Gaara, you can let go of me now." Sakura said once they reached the training grounds. But Gaara just tightened his hold.

"I can't let you go yet. I just found you. I've waited for so many years….. You don't understand. You are the only person who has ever been willing to hug me. This is the first human contact I have had in 7 years, Sakura. Please, just a minute longer." Gaara said with a note of desperation in his voice, clutching her even tighter.

"Ok Gaara. I missed you. I didn't even take of the bracelet. See?" Sakura said, lifting her wrist.

"I saw. And I still wear the necklace." Gaara said, backing away so he could pull it from under his shirt. "It was the only thing that gave me hope all these years."

"I know. I was afraid I would never find you again. I would have hated to never see my friend again."

"Just friends? I thought you would consider us more than friends by now." Gaara said, upset and confused.

"What do mean? We were good friends and always will be." Sakura said, even more confused than Gaara.

"I thought you would love me. I thought you were the one person who would see past my imperfections and love me. But you don't. You never did. I really am alone." Gaara said, feeling like that lonely 6 year old boy again.

"No, your not alone Gaara. I do love you, as a dear friend."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Gaara yelled, "I thought you would be more than a friend. I thought I would finally be loved. Friends leave. I wanted you to be mine for a lifetime."

"Gaara, I don't know want to say. I haven't been around you enough to feel that way yet. It's not impossible but I just saw you for the first time in 7 years. You have to understand, these sort of things take time."

"If I courted you while I am here for the exams, would that be long enough then?" Gaara asked, slightly hopeful now.

"It's might be." Sakura said.

"Fine, I will pick you up tonight for dinner. I must go. Your team is almost here. Goodbye Sakura." Gaara said disappearing in a swirl of sand, leaving a very confused Sakura behind.

_'If she loves me by the end, I will go against my father and save her village. I know my siblings will do what I say; they hate Father as much as I do. If she doesn't, then I will follow through with my orders.'_ Gaara thought as he walked towards Konoha's gates, waiting for his siblings to catch up.

**I hope you liked it! Obviously it doesn't follow the Anime in details but the timeline will be the same. Please Review!**


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